Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

D F Hultsch

Publications and source records attributed to D F Hultsch.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

The role of pre-experimental knowledge in text processing in adulthood.

The present investigation was designed to examine the effects of pre-experimental knowledge on the text recall of younger (mean = 23.1 years), middle aged (mean = 44.2 years), and older (mean = 66.8 years) adults. The subjects were presented with biographical sketches of famous entertainment figures selected such that normatively differential levels of pre-experimental knowledge about the figures was possessed by the various age groups. Subjects recalled the texts immediately after input and again after a delay of one week. Analyses indicated that, at the immediate test, younger subjects remembered the texts better than the middle-aged and older subjects. However, at the delayed test, the performance of the younger subjects did not differ significantly from either older group. In addition, age interacted with story type. The pattern of results suggested that age differences in text processing may be present or absent depending on the level of pre-experimental knowledge about the to-be-remembered topic possessed by the various age groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Structure and development of metamemory in adulthood.

A multiple factor instrument was designed to represent a multidimensional construct of metamemory. Eight theoretically meaningful dimensions were defined: (a) Use of memory strategies (Strategy); (b) Knowledge of memory tasks (Task); (c) Knowledge of own memory capacities (Capacity); (d) Attitudes toward own memory: Perception of change (Change); (e) Activities supportive of memory (Activity); (f) Memory and state anxiety (Anxiety); (g) Memory and achievement motivation (Achievement); and (h) Locus of control in memory abilities (Locus). After content validity was established for a pool of items, the instrument was administered sequentially to three separate samples of adults. Computation of internal consistency estimates (by age and sample) and factorial validity (by sample) resulted in a 120-item instrument. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed robust significant age differences on the Task. Capacity, Change, and Locus subscales, with young adults evincing higher levels of knowledge regarding the first three of these dimensions, and more internality on the fourth, than older adults.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Metamemory and memory for text relationships in adulthood: a cross-validation study.

An eight factor instrument, representing a multidimensional construct of metamemory, was administered to three samples of adults: Sample 1 (young, 18 to 31; old 60 to 81), Sample 2 (young, 21 to 39); middle-aged, 39 to 58; old, 60 to 84), and Sample 3 (young, 21 to 39; middle-aged, 39 to 58; old, 60 to 74). Participants in each sample were also presented with a set of text recall tasks. The recall protocols were scored according to the propositional system of Kintsch. Pearson product-moment correlations and stepwise multiple regressions within each age group and sample indicated several instances of age-related predictive patterns. In particular, whereas the recall performances of both younger and older adults was related to knowledge dimensions of metamemory, the performance of older adults was also predicted by affective dimensions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Text recall in adulthood as a function of level of information, input modality, and delay interval.

Five stories adapted from newspaper articles were presented to subjects in three predominantly female age groups (18-32 yrs., 34-56 yrs., and 60-81 yrs.) to determine the effects of level of information, input modality (reading vs. listening), and delay interval (immediate vs. one week delay) on recall. Subject's recall protocols were scored according to the propositional system of Kintsch. Analyses indicated that the younger adults remembered the text materials better than the middle-aged and older adults under both immediate and delayed recall conditions. However, age interacted with input modality. Both the younger and middle-aged adults benefited more from the opportunity to read the material than the older adults. The results also suggested the older adults' difficulty in text processing may be related to organizational propositions of the text than in the case of the subordinate proposition of the text.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Orienting task effects on text recall in adulthood.

This investigation examined the effects of orienting task-controlled processing on the text recall of younger (18 to 32 years), middle-aged (39 to 51 years), and older (59 to 76 years) adults. The participants were presented with a 500-word narrative text. Three groups performed orienting tasks (syntactic, stylistic, advice) within an incidental memory paradigm. A fourth group was asked for intentional recall. Analysis indicated a significant age by orienting task interaction. Younger adults recalled more propositions when recall was intentional or when it was preceded by a deep-orienting task than when it was preceded by a shallow-orienting task. Middle-aged and older adults recalled more propositions when recall was intentional than when it was incidental, regardless of the depth of the orienting task. There were no significant differences in intentional recall. In addition, a significant age x orienting task x propositional level interaction indicated that younger adults recalled more of the main ideas of the text following deep processing, whereas the middle-aged and older adults recalled more of these ideas following intentional processing.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Attitudes toward aging as a function of in-service training and practitioner age.

Age differences in attitudes toward aging were investigated as a function of a 3-hour training program with 322 women (18-74 years) from various geriatric health care and social service contexts. Using a quasi-experimental pre- and posttest design, sites were randomly divided into initial experimental and control groups, with all control participants receiving training following the research program. Results indicated few instances of unfavorable attitudes toward aging in any age group, with younger women evidencing less cynicism toward aging, less social distance from the aged, and slightly less stereotyping. Training appeared to result in less cynicism, stronger endorsements of family and public responsibility, and slightly greater anxiety. No Age X Pretest/Posttest interactions were found. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for service provider-client interaction, the correspondence of attitudinal and behavioral change, and appropriate instruments for assessing program impact.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

On the differentiation of memory beliefs from memory knowledge: the factor structure of the Metamemory in Adulthood Scale.

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that there are multiple factors of metamemory present in the Metamemory in Adulthood (MIA) questionnaire. Data on seven MIA scales from six separate studies on memory/metamemory relationships (total N = 750) were combined to yield two half-samples for cross-validation purposes. The samples were partitioned into young, middle-aged, and old groups. A multiple group confirmatory factor analysis was then conducted on the data, using the first half sample to develop a model and the second half sample to validate it. Although the models did not fully cross-validate, both analyses indicated that there are at least two higher-order factors in the MIA. The first involves beliefs about self-efficacy in using memory. The second factor combines knowledge about memory and affect concerning memory (e.g., achievement motivation). The analyses also indicated that the factor loadings for the second factor, tentatively labelled Knowledge, were invariant across the three age groups, but that there were age differences in the Self-Efficacy Beliefs factor loadings. The differences were localized to age-related increases in the loadings for the MIA Change and Locus scales. The two factor solution has potential for resolving conflicting results in the literature regarding age differences in both metamemory and metamemory/memory performance relationships.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Attitude instrument analysis: an examination of factor consistency across two samples.

The factor analytic model of the practitioner-oriented opinions about people (OAP) was tested with a population of gerontological practitioners (N =558). A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to ascertain the degree-of-fit between these data and the published OAP factor model. After results supported the hypothesis that the two samples differed, a second factor analysis was designed to yield estimates of communalities by a least squares multiple regression technique. This analysis eliminated nine items not warranting inclusion in the instrument, redistributed the factors, and brought out a completely new factor. Finally, to test the hypothesis that attitudes toward aging and the aged are uncorrelated, a third analysis was performed in which the six scales of the oblique solution were refactored. The resulting higher order dimensions tended to support this hypothesis.

Aged↗